Previously, I have featured David Pache of Dache on WDW, an amazing logo designer from Switzerland. He is known for designing unique and colorful logos. I’m very glad to have David to share his design process of the WebMYnd’s logo. This case study (written by David himself) provides full creative brief and progress images from start to final. Read on to find out how David got inspired by Wassily Kandinsky‘s art (one of the most famous 20th-century abstract artists) to create this fantastic logo.

Introduction

Last year, I was approached by a startup who required a logo in order to launch a business in the US. The WebMYnd team were 3 MIT and Cambridge University graduates who were very passionate about their product. They had acquired seed funding from ycombinator an outfit which picks enterprises to back and who have an excellent track record. WebMYnd have a product which is a plugin for your browser that turns your web browsing into an extension of your own memory. it allows you to keep a copy of everything you look at on the web, and then allows you to search actual page images and text when you need to remember something again.

The creative brief

The main aspect of their brief was to create an identity which would communicate the idea of collecting everything you look at on the web in one place and to inspire the idea of extending your memory. They wanted to make a tool that people would prefer to use in place of the old fashioned way of bookmarking and tagging websites. They also wanted the logo, or some element of it, as a button to indicate when the plugin was in use therefore colour was of great importance.

Getting started

Initially, I took the brief at face value and brainstormed some ideas. I wanted to create a concept using the initial from WebMYnd and the first concept which was produced as as follows. The simple lines created an abstract reference to a brain (an idea which the client had experimented with but did not like the appearance of a brain. This design captures the essence of a brain but at the same time forming a ‘W’.

This concept was discontinued however as the ‘W’ was not clear enough and it did not have the presence that the client was looking to achieve. I therefore focused on colour and did some research for inspiration.

I am a great fan of the works of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist, printmaker and theorist. One of the most famous 20th century, Kandinsky has been credited with painting the first modern abstract works. Below is one of these works from which I took inspiration as to the colour palette which may suit the WebMYnd logo. The use of colour is broad yet it is not offensive on the eye and stands out enough to intrigue the audience. This is what I wanted to achieve so all I needed now was the correct design to show these colours.

Drafting and development

I consulted the client and the idea of creating a monogram using the ‘W’ and the ‘M’ was decided on to take the project forward. Below are my initial sketches.

The first of these above gave the best line to work with however I did not like the linear aspect as I would be unable to use enough variation of colour within a single lined image. Below are my developments of the first idea into a two dimensional concept and intersecting these shapes with differing elements to allow me to fill with colour.

After some re-drafting of one of the concepts, i decided on a wholly symmetrical design where the ‘W’ mirrored the ‘M’ therefore I transferred the design to the Dot Grid Book below. As the design had four elements which were identical in design, I was able to just concentrate on one element which could be copied and rotated at a later stage using the computer software.

Colours

Once the four elements were plotted and finalised, I looked at possible colours. Below are some combinations which I experimented with.

I finally decided on the colour scheme below using quite vibrant colours to create a presence but trying not to use garish tones which would offend the eye of the audience.

Final colour placement and concept presentation

I tried many combinations. When dealing wit the use of colour in this quantity, it is a case of trying until you find the right solution. Below is the finished design which was selected by the client.

Delivery and feedback

The client initially loved the concept and used it for a number of months however after some further discussion between themselves, they decided to choose a different design to move forward with however they still retain the rights to the design, should they wish to implement it in the future.

I would like to thank the creators of WebMYnd and wish them every success for the future. It was a pleasure to work on this project and this design is one of the more popular with clients when they see my portfolio. Of course, I welcome any comments regarding this specific article or my design process in general. Thanks and enjoy!

Credits

This case study is written by David Pache. Want to submit your article to Web Designer Wall? Please contact me.

Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading your articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Thanks for your time!

Just working on my new company logo. I have the basic shape but making it into something extra special is proving difficult. Your process has given me some inspiration. I also happened to notice a Dot Grid in there… Fricking love them!, Got some on sale on eBay in the Uk: http://bit.ly/UJlMUZ – Someone may want one :-) Great work mate